ISWE NEWS ALERT, ISWE NEWS ALERT... Rare small wheel sighting!

As ISWE readers know, folding bike sightings around the ISWE headquarters have been becoming more and more frequent lately. But today, the small wheel sighting frequency took an exponential leap.

Let me set the scene. Gray sky, windy, 30 degrees Fahrenheit. For our international readers familiar only with the Celsius scale, that translates to cold. In other words, we're talking pretty cruddy cycling weather in the Circle City.

Leaving work headed east on New York Street, there it is... moving slowly but steadily into the wind, a Brompton. We'd have pictures, of course, but the slightly less intrepid ISWE staff were autobound  also heading east on New York Street and we all know that cell phone cameras and driving don't mix (ISWE safety tip #37). We were amazed. Seeing a Brompton in this city, in this weather, at this time of day...  a little like seeing a Pileated Woodpecker. We watched it head past the Herron School of Art, contemplating it and it's small wheels as aptly a work of art as well. But then, what to our wondering eyes should appear but another Bromton heading west... on the very same street. That's right ISWE readers, a Double Brompton! Two smart young women, both mocking the elements, peddling along in opposite directions on the same block. Awesome. We felt like calling... well, we didn't know exactly who to call, but we sure felt like calling someone.

Calculating the probability of seeing a Brompton in Indianapolis, multiplying that of the inverse of the degrees Farenheit, carried to the power of gray on a 0 to 10 scale of sky color cycleability, divided by two for the two Bromptons and 462 for precisely the same time of day, that equates to approximately 1 chance in 1.5 babillion of occurring. It's the only possible explanation... other than, I suppose, the possibility that these little gems are really catching on! 

Could it be they are? I mean what are the chances that smart young people are realizing these bikes are awesome and they're going out and buying them, finding they are indeed awesome, and riding them even when the weather is cruddy because they are awesome. Probably it could be they are. Judging from the other bikes I saw on that particular street at that time, the probability is 2 to 0. Total dominance for small-wheeled Bromptons!

However you do your math, be it by gross underestimation or by anecdotal factorization, it all adds up to the same thing... you really should check these little bikes out. They're portable, fun, and smart. Try one out and you may find yourself running into someone just like yourself heading in the opposite direction. What a surprise that would be.

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